Two unfortunate trends have diminished the relevance for policymakers of developmental research on early adolescence: the absence of context-specific developmental studies, and the remoteness of developmental research from public-private policy analysis. Ironically, problem-oriented areas such as pregnancy and substance abuse prevention serve as exemplars of de-stigmatizing cooperation among developmentalists, demographers, and policy analysts that promotes healthy youth development. Because of the influence of developmentalists, middle schools are structurally poised to respond to the challenge of diverse groups of students. Nonetheless, the powerful interrelationship of poverty, race, and demographics has changed the ecology of early adolescence for substantial and identifiable subsets of the population, especially African-American and Hispanic youth. At stake is the preservation of early adolescence in the life cycle for all children regardless of their economic circumstances.
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